Breaking Down The NEW Upcoming Disney+ Release Schedule
Star Wars: The Bad Batch - May 4th - Disney+ Weekly Series
This series is based around The Bad Batch, a group of mutated clones who are basically the suicide squad of the clone army. Dave Filoni, who made the animated series and The Mandalorian, is the creator and producer. If you aren't familiar with the animated series, it is without a doubt the best star wars media to be released since the end of the original trilogy up until the Mandalorian. Filoni fucking loves Star Wars, and you will see that in anything he makes for Disney/Lucasfilm.
This series will be based around the bad batch taking on mercenary missions in the aftermath of the Clone War.
Cruella - May 28th - In theaters and Disney+ Premier access
This origin story for the dog-skinning villain stars the Emmas Stone and Thompson, as well as Mark Strong, Joel Fry and stoolie Paul Walter Hauser. This isn't the sort of thing that normally moves the needle for me, BUT director Craig Gillespie recently did some phenomenal work in 'I Tonya'. That gives me some faith that this will be more fun than we might be thinking.
"A live-action feature film following the evil exploits of Cruella de Vil, the villain from the Disney film, "101 Dalmatians'."
Launchpad - May 28th - Disney+ Weekly series
Launchpad is a new program where 6 directors are make live-action short films with the chance for them to be picked up and developed further. This might be cool because there we can essentially see the next big director's start. Short-films are also a great medium for people that want to see a cool story without spending a ton of time or needed the connective tissue to anything else like in a lot of TV series.
Loki - June 11th - Disney+ weekly series
The next MCU series to come after The Falcon and the Winter Soldier follows Loki as he goes through and alters human history using the tesseract. HIddleston is obviously back in the main role, and WOWWW man Owen Wilson is joining him along with Gugu Mbatha-Raw and Richard E. Grant. Historical "what-if" scenarios are always a fun topic to explore, and combining that aspect with a smooth and witty character like Loki should be a great time. Don't keep your fingers crossed for anything too graphic like "what if Hitler never invaded Russia!?!", though, since this is Disney after all.
"Loki is brought to the mysterious Time Variance Authority organization after stealing the Tesseract during the events of Avengers: Endgame (2019), and travels through time altering human history using it, ending up trapped in his own crime thriller."
Luca - June 18th - Disney+ movie
This is an animated coming-of-age story set in Italy starring Jacob Tremblay (Room) and Jack Dylan Grazer (It). It also features Maya Rudolph and Jim Gaffigan as sea monsters. Jim Gaffigan may be the least italian man in the world, but that aside this looks like a colorful, fun kids movie. It's about sea monsters going undercover as humans to see what their lives on the surface are like.
"In a seaside town on the Italian Riviera, a young boy named Luca shares adventures with his new best friend Alberto. But Luca and Alberto are hiding a secret: they are both sea monsters from a world below the water's surface"
Black Widow - July 9th - In Theaters and Disney+ Premier Access
We were all supposed to see the presumptive swan song for the character in May of last year! I'm all about MCU espionage movies, and I'm pumped to see how they handle Taskmaster. Florence Pugh (Midsommer), David Harbour (Stranger Things) and Rachel Weisz (The Mummy) are in this movie as well as O-T Fagbenle(Handmaid's Tale) and Ray Winstone (The Departed). Like I mentioned in my blog yesterday, I highly recommend taking the trek to a theater for this. This movie is built to be watched in that experience.
"Pursued by a force that will stop at nothing to bring her down, Romanoff must deal with her history as a spy and the broken relationships left in her wake long before she became an Avenger"
Jungle Cruise - July 30th - Theaters only (for now)
The Disney rides cinematic universe hit gold with Pirates of the Caribbean, but most of their other ventures have been failures. The Country Bears, The Haunted Mansion, Mission to Mars, Tomorrowland and Tower of Terror: All big time yikes. This movie, which I hypocritically would much rather watch on streaming, has a chance to be good, though. It has the alwasy charismatic Rock alongside Emily Blunt, as well as 2 of my favorite thicc bois in Jesse Plemmons and Paul Giamatti. Director Jaume Collet-Serra is mostly known for making crappy Liam Neeson thrillers, though, so I have a lot of hesitation.
"Set during the early 20th century, a riverboat captain named Frank takes a scientist and her brother on a mission into a jungle to find the Tree of Life which is believed to possess healing powers. All the while, the trio must fight against dangerous wild animals and a competing German expedition."
Free Guy - August 13th - Theaters Only
Ryan Reynolds is just so damn charming that I will cosign anything he does. Especially since he has the captial to pick projects he actually wants to do. Video Game movies have been traditionally cursed, and I think one of Reynold's previous movies, Pokemon: Detective Pikachu, was probably the best video game movie in recent memory. But it still wasn't GREAT. Can Free Guy be the first GREAT movie in the genre? We will see! It stars Reynolds, Jodie Comer(Killing Eve), Joe Keery (Stranger Things), Lil Rel Howery (Get Out) and Taika Waititi (Thor: Ragnarok). Apparantly, a bunch of youtube/streaming personalities like Ninja make appearances as well. Shawn Levy (Stranger Things, Cheaper by the Dozen) is directing.
"In the open world video game Free City, Guy is a non-player character working as a bank teller. Thanks to a program developed by programmers Milly and Keys inserted into Free City by the publisher Antoine, Guy becomes aware of his world being a video game, and takes steps to make himself the hero, creating a race against time to save the game before the developers can shut it down"
What If - (TBD Summer) - Disney+ series
Like I was saying before with the historical implications of Loki, what-if scenarios are cool! The animated medium also gives them a ton of leeway to do some crazy shit without needing an insane budget. I don't foresee this being must-watch, but fun nonetheless.
Ms. Marvel - (TBD Fall) - Disney+ Series
Ms. Marvel is a spunky new addition to the MCU that should add a more teen/kid-focused hero into our mix now that Spider-Man is exiting that realm. She's got cool powers, a story that is unique to the franchise and an extremely passionate and excited actress behind the mask in Iman Vellani.
"A great student, avid gamer, and voracious fan-fic scribe, Kamala Khan has a special affinity for Super Heroes, particularly Captain Marvel. However, Kamala struggles to fit in at home and at school — that is, until she gets super powers like the heroes she’s always looked up to. Life is easier with super powers, right?"
Shang-Chi and the Legend of the 10 Rings - September 3rd - Theaters Only
I don't know a ton about the character of Shang-Chi, but I love Simu Liu. If you've watched Kim's Convienence before, you know he can act as the underdog who has something to prove. He also has the bones for humor and charm to spare. Besides Liu, it stars Akwafina, Tony Leung, Ronny Chieng and Michelle Yeoh. Destin Daniel Cretton (Short Term 12) is behind the camera for this movie that I think will be different from anything we have seen from Marvel before.
"When Shang-Chi is drawn into the clandestine Ten Rings organization, he is forced to confront the past he thought he left behind"
The Last Duel - October 15th - Theaters only
I am incredibly psyched to watch this Ridley Scott directed historical drama. It has a great concept and an even better cast and crew. The boston boys, Matt Damon and Ben Affleck, are teamed back up as French nobles along with Adam Driver, Jodie Comer and more.
"In 14th-century France, best friends Jean de Carrouges and Jacques Le Gris are ordered to fight to the death after Carrouges accuses Le Gris of raping his wife."
Ron's Gone Wrong - October 22nd - Theaters only
I actually don't know a ton about this movie other than it is the first feature released by Locksmith Animation (which was part of 2CF before the Disney acquisition). You can kind of tell it doesn't have that Disney touch on it, which isn't necessarily a bad thing.
"A 11-year-old boy finds out that his robot buddy doesn't quite work and goes to a world where walking, talking, digitally connected robots have best friends for children."
Eternals - November 5th - Theaters only
After a year-long delay, we're finally going to get a look at the movie that's supposed to break the mold for the MCU. The Eternals are essentially immortal beings that live on earth and have insane, large-scale powers. This has a pretty big cast in Angelina Jolie, Salma Hayek, The Stark brothers/cousins Richard Madden and Kit Harrington, Kumail Nanjiani, Bryan Tyree Henry and Gemma Chan. Director Chloé Zhao is a frontrunner to win best director at the oscars, which should give everyone a lot to be excited about. A lesser item that excited me is that GoT composer Ramin Djawadi is on the track for this as well.
"After an unexpected tragedy following the events of Avengers: Endgame (2019),[3] the Eternals—an immortal alien race created by the Celestials who have secretly lived on Earth for over 7,000 years—reunite to protect humanity from their evil counterparts, the Deviants."
Encanto - November 24th - Theaters only
The first thing that comes to mind after the trailer is the similar vibes to 'Coco' which takes place in nearby Mexico. It has Brooklyn 99's Stephanie Beatriz in the lead voice role and Lin-Manuel Miranda doing the music, which seems to be a solid combination. This comes from Byron Howard and Jared Bush, and that duo has a lot of experience in the Disney animated movie world.
"Encanto tells the tale of an extraordinary family, the Madrigals, who live hidden in the mountains of Colombia, in a magical house, in a vibrant town, in a wondrous, charmed place called an Encanto. The magic of the Encanto has blessed every child in the family with a unique gift from super strength to the power to heal—every child except one, Mirabel. But when she discovers that the magic surrounding the Encanto is in danger, Mirabel decides that she, the only ordinary Madrigal, might just be her exceptional family's last hope."
Book of Boba Fett - (TBD December) - Series
Not a ton is known about this other than Temuera Morrison is reprising his role as Boba, and Ming-Na Wen is back as Fennec Shand. That, and that the series takes place immediately following his reintroduction in The Mandalorian. Mando's finest Jonny Favs and Dave Filoni are producing the show along with Robert Rodriguez, who directed the episode he came back in.
West Side Story - December 10th - Theaters Only
The Spielberg adaptation of the play is releasing a year after it's original date, and I'm not sure where to fall on it. I'm not a fan of Ansel Elgort, who is playing Tony. But I do think Rachel Zegler, who is playing Maria, has an exceptional voice. Like I said in my blog yesterday, the second half of Spielberg's career has not even been in the same league as his first half, but maybe this bucks the trend.
The King's Man - December 22nd - Theaters Only
In June of 2019, we interviewed director Matthew Vaughn about 'Rocketman' and he told us how pumped he was for this movie to come out in November of that same year. Fast-foward a year and 9 months to today, and we are still going to be waiting another 9 months for it's release. I really loved the first Kingsman movie and think that the second one got lost in the sauce a little bit. But the huge time period shift and new cast had me pumped for what can be.
"As a collection of history's worst tyrants and criminal masterminds gather to plot a war to wipe out millions, one man and his protégé must race against time to stop them"
Deep Water - January 14th 2022
I remember being excited for this movie because it stars my cig-blasting king Ben Affleck and his gf (And the most attractive human in the world) Ana de Armas. Well, they are now broken up so this just makes me sad. This is based on the '57 thriller novel of the same name and is directed by Adrian Lyne (Jacob's Ladder)
"A married couple who have fallen out of love with each other begin playing deadly mind games against one another that begin seeing those around them dying."
Death on the Nile - February 11th 2022
Wana know what movie is absolutely and totally FUCKED? This one right here. And it's all thanks to one alleged cannibal weirdo named Armie Hammer. While not nearly as crippling as having him attached to the cast, it also hurts that the 2017 movie was not good at all. Lets leave modern whodunits to Rian Johnson.
"The peace and tranquility that was temporarily existent on the S.S. Karnak is destroyed after one of the passengers is found murdered. Renowned Belgian detective Hercule Poirot is entrusted with the important task of identifying which one of the passengers is the killer before they strike again."